I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)

"Buy the World a Coke" contains the line "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" and repeats "It's the real thing", which was Coca-Cola's marketing slogan at the time. The Coca-Cola Company introduced that slogan in October 1969.

Several versions of the ad have been made.

• The song first aired on American radio on February 12, 1971, but not all of the Coca-Cola bottlers were impressed. However, DJs reported that they were receiving requests to hear the commercial. Backer persuaded McCann-Erickson to film a commercial using the song.[2] The TV commercial, titled "Hilltop", was directed by Roberto Malenotti.[5] The ad cost $250,000 ($1.8 million today), the most expensive commercial in history at that time.[6]

The first attempt at shooting was ruined by rain and other location problems.[7] The finished product, first aired in July 1971, featured a multicultural group of young people lip synching the song on a hill in Manziana, outside Rome, Italy. The global unity of the singers is emphasized by showing that the bottles of Coke they are holding are labelled in a variety of languages.

• In 1990, a follow-up to this commercial, called "Hilltop Reunion" and directed by Jeff Lovinger, aired during coverage of Super Bowl XXIV. It featured the original singers (now adults) and their children, and culminated in a medley of this song and the then-current "Can't Beat the Real Thing" jingle.[8]
• G. Love remade the song for the Coca-Cola Zero commercial "Everybody Chill", which aired in 2005.[9]
• In 2006, the song was used again in a Coca-Cola commercial in the Netherlands, performed by Dutch singer Berget Lewis.[10]
• In 2010, Coca-Cola once again used the song in a television commercial featuring the entire line of its sponsored NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers. The commercial included the drivers singing the song while driving in a race.[11]
• In 2011, information on how many dollars it would take "to buy the world a Coke" was given in a commercial featuring the red silhouette of a Coke bottle and the melody of the song.[12]
• In 2012, As part of the Google Project Rebrief campaign, the Hilltop ad was reimagined for the digital age. Via the web, people were able to "send" a Coke to special vending machines located around the globe. Recipients of the Coke could then record a thank-you message to send back to the sender. Machines were located in Buenos Aires; Cape Town; Mountain View, California; and New York City.[13]
• In 2015, a public service announcement was made by Center for Science in the Public Interest about the consequences of excessive soda consumption, and contained an altered version of I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing. The advert featured hospital doctors and dentists, and patients struggling with obesity-induced diseases (type 2 diabetes, hypertension and tooth decay). Near the end it showed Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Mountain Dew in beverage cups named "Obesity", "Diabetes Type Two" and "Tooth Decay" in the respective typefaces being poured away. The campaign was named "Change the Tune".[14]

In 2007, Campaign magazine called it "one of the best-loved and most influential ads in TV history".[15] It served as a milestone—the first instance of the recording industry's involvement with advertising.[16]

Marketing analysts have noted Coca-Cola's strategy of marrying the idea of happiness and universal love of the product illustrated by the song.[17][18]

The commercial has continued receiving accolades in more recent times. In 2000, Channel 4 and The Sunday Times ranked the song 16th in the 100 Greatest TV Ads,[19] while in 2005, ITV ranked the advertisement 10th in its list of the greatest advertisements of all time.[20]

After the TV commercial aired, radio stations began to get calls from people who liked it. Billy Davis' friends in radio suggested he record the song, but not as an advertising jingle.[7] It became so popular that the song was rewritten without brand name references and expanded to three verses. Davis recruited a group of studio singers to take it on because The New Seekers did not have time to record it. The studio group named themselves The Hillside Singers to identify with the ad, and within two weeks the song was on the national charts. The Hillside Singers' version reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, #5 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart, and #58 in Canada,[21]. Billboard ranked this version as the No. 97 song for 1972.

The New Seekers later recorded the song[2] and sold 96,000 copies of their record in one day, eventually selling 12 million total. "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" climbed to UK #1, #3 Canada, and US #7 in 1971 and 1972. The song became a gold record in the U.S., and has also sold over a million copies in the UK.[22] The Coca-Cola Company waived royalties to the song, and instead donated $80,000 in payments to UNICEF.[2] Billboard ranked this version as the No. 93 song for 1972.